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Environmental groups praised President Joe Biden’s decision resolution The United States decided on Monday to impose a comprehensive ban on new offshore drilling for oil and gas along most of the American coast. But the ban had a glaring omission: It did not include the western Gulf of Mexico, where the country extracts most of its offshore oil.
The ban aims to protect the environment and mitigate damage caused by climate change, and will prohibit future oil and gas leasing in federal waters off the east and west coasts, in parts of the Bering Sea near Alaska and across the eastern part of the Gulf. Exact limits have not been announced, but federal regulators generally do Identify the eastern Gulf The water extends from the southern tip of Florida to the Alabama line. This would leave the waters off Louisiana and Texas open for drilling.
“My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts can cause irreparable damage to the places we cherish and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs,” Biden said in a statement. statement. “It’s not worth the risk.”
Biden and other presidents have protected much smaller areas of oil and gas development, often with expiration dates. Monday’s action appears to be a permanent ban, although President-elect Donald Trump has already indicated he aims to do so “Unblock immediately” After taking office later this month.
“This is an epic ocean victory!” announced Joseph Gordon, campaign director for Oceana, a nonprofit group focused on protecting the world’s oceans.
But some ecologists were not as enthusiastic.
“That’s great, but is the central and western Gulf of Mexico just a sacrifice zone then?” asked Don Bush, a marine scientist who served on the ship National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil SpillWhich investigated the 2010 disaster. “This is where it all [Outer Continental Shelf] Drilling takes place and greenhouse gas emissions are released.
The Gulf is held accountable 97% of total oil and natural gas production In US marine waters. The vast majority of that production is happening near Louisiana and Texas — not the Florida coast, which Biden will protect.
The oil and gas industry criticized the ban as misguided and potentially harmful to the economy.
“Although it does not directly affect the western Gulf of Mexico, [the ban] “This is a blatant attack on the oil and natural gas industry — an industry vital to our nation’s energy security and economic strength,” said Tommy Fauchaux, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, an industry trade group.
But Bush pointed out that a small number of oil companies are demanding exploration off the oil-poor eastern or western coasts or the Florida Gulf Coast.
“The ban will not affect oil leasing in the central and western Gulf where all drilling is taking place or is likely to take place over the next four years,” Bush said. books On X.
It is unclear whether Trump, a staunch supporter of the oil and gas industry, will follow through on his promise to roll back the ban or how quickly he will do so. But some experts say repealing this law could be long and complicated and may require action from Congress. The courts can also consider the matter. In 2019, a federal judge will issue a ruling to rule That presidents can ban drilling but cannot overturn previous bans.
Trump has not always opposed restrictions on offshore drilling. During his 2020 re-election campaign, Trump extended the drilling moratorium off Florida’s Gulf Coast and expanded it to include the state’s Atlantic coast and the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina.
“This protects your beautiful bay and your beautiful ocean, and it will for a long time to come,” Trump said. He said in 2020.
Biden raised on Monday Deepwater Horizon oil spill Announcing the new ban, he said the disaster was “a solemn reminder of the costs and risks of offshore drilling.”
The spill killed 11 workers and caused four million barrels of oil to leak into the Gulf off the coast of Louisiana over a period of 87 days. Biden said the disaster “underscores the importance of the legal protections I put in place today.”
Martha Collins, executive director of the environmental nonprofit Healthy Gulf, said the ban does little to protect the Gulf from future spills.
“We are disappointed that President Biden did not seize the opportunity to withdraw additional areas in the Gulf of Mexico, especially the risky deepwater areas and the western Gulf,” she said. “These areas remain vulnerable to catastrophic oil spills.”
Marine animals are still suffering from the Deepwater Horizon disaster nearly 15 years later. Last month, A He studies A study conducted by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that the density of some whale species in the Gulf has decreased by 83 percent since the disaster. Many of the whales found in the Gulf are Threatened or endangered.
“I’m frustrated that so many places have been left out [of the ban] “Marine fossils are the places where we do the most damage to Gulf communities and endangered species,” said Brady Bradshaw, oceans campaign director at the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit group focused on wildlife conservation. “This was a missed opportunity to protect the western and central Gulf.”